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Drug-Drug Interactions Increases Risk for Topamax Side effects

4th August, 2011 - Posted by health news - No Comments

The pharmaceutical company Johnson and Johnson has been manufacturing an anti-epileptic, anticonvulsant and anti-migraine drug Topamax (generic name Topiramate). Drug-drug interactions with Topamax include 321 drugs (major drug-drug interactions), 196 drugs (moderate drug-drug interactions) and 9 drugs (minor drug-drug interactions). Some drugs are not suitable with Topamax, as stipulated in the article “Drug Interactions to Avoid While Using Topamax”.

As the article suggested, preventing drug-drug interactions is not an easy task since there are numerous drugs that are not suited to be combined with Topamax. Children (2-16 years of age) and patients aging 10 and above who experienced initial onset or generalized tonic-clonic seizure, a type of seizure disorder, were usually prescribed with Topamax. In any type of medication, the dosage, frequency of administration and route of administration is adjusted to suit the age, weight, health and condition of each and every patient.

People tend to check the following medications whether it is safe to take it together with Topamax. Acetazolamide is one drug that is not compatible with Topamax since these two are both carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. Topamax absorption is tampered when taken with an enzyme inducer such as Carbamazepine that is why these two is not advisable to be taken together. As aforementioned, Topamax is also used as an adjunct anti-epileptic drug, but pairing it with Phenytoin results to an increase in the latter drug’s levels which can lead to unwanted consequences.

If you plan to quit taking Topamax, tampering the dosage is the safest thing to do since abruptly stopping the drug usually leads to dire consequences. Consult your doctor first regarding the Topamax side effects you observed before taking any further actions. Knowing about drug-drug interactions is crucial because there is an increased susceptibility to experience serious side effects when incompatible drugs are taken together. On the other hand, if you or your loved one took Topamax during pregnancy and experienced severe side effects such as the birth of a child with a craniofacial anomaly like cleft palate and/or cleft lip, the guilt you may feel for your child’s condition and the expenses needed for corrective operation can be compensated if you file a Topamax birth defect lawsuit with the help of an adept lawyer. Free consultations with an efficient lawyer are available so you may try to talk to one right now. You can visit related sites to gather more information about this.